Black Eden
by Kairyn Deliae
Summary: The future sometimes goes wildly off course. And during those times someone has to be the one to set it back on track. AU due to time travel. DARK Future fic. Rating might go up later depending on how mean I get. *Character Death warning*
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **A somewhat dark story that popped into my head. Slightly AUish? due to time travel shenanigans. This might end up having parings in it but that's currently undecided. I'm sort of just following the plot bunny down the rabbit hole at the moment.

* * *

There was a slight rustling in a dark narrow tunnel. Glass clinked against a hard metal surface and was followed by a distinctive click. A small flame struggled in the dark before managing to move over to the wick of the oil lantern. The glass was lowered back in place and the light was enhanced enough so that the rough hand carved dirt walls were more visible.

A skilled hand carefully took the lantern by the thin wire handle and lifted it from the old crate it had been sitting on. Uneven steps made the lantern swing slightly but, with how claustrophobic the passageway was, the moving light still illuminated both walls.

The tunnel went down at a steady slope and occasionally dirt would crumble from the ceiling to get caught in a head of blonde hair. After several hundred feet, a pipe cut in from the ceiling and followed the edge of the tunnel. The pipe was rusty and had been patched countless times with scrap metal. Even with the patches it dripped in places creating muddy patches on the ground to possibly slip in. Scuffed dress shoes stepped around these puddles with the ease of practice.

Finally, the light shone on a door. The blonde shifted the lantern carefully before lifting a hand to trace the front of the door. Though it was quite a bit smaller than the original this mini sculpture still had the smile that was so intensely happy. The lion with the almost petal-like mane continued to smile despite the cracks in the cheery yellow paint and the bits of the mane that had been broken off.

The blonde patted the lion on the head. "I'm home, Sunny," came the soft alto voice. He let his hand trace the curve of the lion's head to gently pull Sunny Jr.'s mouth down. Inside her mouth was a black hole but the blonde slid his hand inside it without hesitation. He fiddled with something for a moment before there was a click of a lock unlatching. Narrow hips nudged the door and it obediently swung open to welcome him home.

Inside was only a little bit better lit than the tunnel had been but it did at least have wooden floors and walls. Well, most of them were wooden anyway. With a sigh, the blonde closed the door and relocked it before putting the lantern down and dousing the flame. "I'm back," he called as he reached up to pull his cloak off.

"Oi, Sanji, what took you?" came the reply from further inside the shelter.

The blonde smiled a little and wandered to the back room. "Just got caught up," he answered as he studied his long time friend. "What are you working on?"

There was a big grin in response. "My best invention yet! I call it the Usopp-Frankie Ultimate Super Drill!" he said holding up the strange machine he was putting together. Sanji felt a pang but kept smiling anyway. Usopp needed to see the smile, even Sanji could tell that much.

"A drill, eh? That's good. You can fix the damn sink with it when you're done!" Sanji said before walking past the long nosed sniper to sit down on the edge of the bed that was tucked into the corner. He undid a few ties that were holding a gauzy net draped over the bed closed so that nothing got in. "Eh, Coby. Are you awake?" Tired eyes opened some and looked over at the blonde. Sanji smiled a bit and reached over to adjust a thick bandage. "You hungry or anything?"

Coby shook his head ever so slightly. "… 'm fine, Sanji-san," he managed to mutter.

Sanji nodded and carefully checked over the rest of the bandages. Several were turning red and would have to be changed shortly but for now they were alright. The poor guy still looked exhausted after all. "Rest then. Usopp, I need your help in the other room," Sanji said as he got up and pulled the netting that covered Coby's bed closed again.

Usopp looked over from his work before nodding. "Right." Sanji led the way to the main area of their shelter and sat down heavily on the many times patched couch. The blonde sighed and lifted one leg to rest on an old chest. "What's wrong with it, Sanji?" Usopp asked as he instantly rolled up Sanji's trousers to expose dented, unpolished, metal.

"Damn thing's sticking again," Sanji muttered as he let his head fall back while Usopp adjusted his goggles to better see what he was doing. "Piece of shit's not holding up very well."

"Well, what do you expect with how you beat it up all the time?" Usopp grumbled. "You've got to use your left leg more, Sanji."

The blonde scowled. "I can't help it. I've always been better with the right," he complained. "Just fix it best you can, Usopp. It just has to work a little longer and then it won't matter."

Usopp scoffed and reached for a screwdriver from the bag beside him. "I'm not a miracle worker you know." There were several minutes where there was no noise but Usopp fiddling with mechanical parts. "How bad was it this time?" Usopp asked in a whisper though he knew that if Coby cared enough to listen he'd hear no matter how quiet they were.

Sanji didn't respond right away but after several minutes he opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling where a grinning skull wearing a Strawhat was holding back loose dirt. "Aokiji is dead."

Usopp froze for a minute before sighing heavily. "That's pretty bad…"

Sanji nodded. "Paulie and Zambai too," he nearly whispered, knowing that those would hurt more. Zambai had been one of Frankie's. "… We're running out of Nakama…"

"Don't say things like that, Sanji," Usopp said harshly despite the fist squeezing his throat so painfully. "We'll always have Nakama!"

There was a long almost painful pause between them. "I know, Usopp," Sanji whispered finally. "Has that bastard Moria contacted us yet?" he asked as he continued to study the flag he'd sailed under for so long.

"Yeah, but he still hasn't had any luck," Usopp answered. "He says the poison is just too strong. It even eats through his zombies."

"Damn it," Sanji hissed as he sat up slightly. "Makes me wish Vegapunk was still around to help us out." Moria had been the last 'scientist' around that had even a vague shot at coming up with an antidote. Not even that psychotic Clown had managed to figure out an antidote to Pestilence. They didn't have that option anymore. "I guess we have to fall back to _that _plan then…"

"Sanji… if you do that you won't come back," Usopp said.

The blonde hesitated for a minute before looking over at his friend. Despite not wanting to, his eyes drifted downwards to the chair that Usopp was sitting in. The wheels squeaked and weren't perfectly round anymore and the entire thing was laden down with various tools and pouches full of Gods knew what. Sanji leaned back again and forced his eyes away from the sight and instead swept over the dimly lit room.

A white sword with dark red stains on its sheath was hanging on the wall above the sink. A small mikan tree was struggling in a pot in the corner. There was a bookcase full of long untouched books and resting against it was a violin case. A backpack hung on the back of the door and on top of the icebox was a battered Strawhat with a massive gash straight through it. "Usopp… This isn't the way it was supposed to go. We need to save our Nakama however we can," Sanji managed to say though that relentless fist had now clenched tight around his own vocal chords. "Once you fix my leg I'm going."

"Sanji, you just got back," Usopp protested.

"I don't give a shit. I can't stand this anymore. You stay here with Coby. He's banged up pretty bad," Sanji said before glancing at the wall that divided the two rooms. Banged up was an understatement. Coby was terribly injured. Sanji had seen the injuries before. They all had. Not even Law and Chopper would have been able to save Coby with how bad they were, even if they were around to help. It was just a matter of time.

Usopp fiddled with his screwdriver. "Are you sure it'll work?"

"Robin-chan was sure of it. That's good enough for me," Sanji answered firmly. He would never doubt his brilliant Nakama. She had researched so long and hard to find a possible solution. It wasn't perfect but they had run out of other options. "I'll fix this Usopp. This 'Eden' is shit."

The sniper tightened his grip on the metal still propped up against the chest. "Sanji… wait until tomorrow," he murmured. "It's too late to go now."

The blonde studied his friend for several long moments before sighing. "I'll get us some glasses… we could both use a drink," he said before carefully getting up and going to the nearby cupboard. He didn't hesitate to get out nine mugs and fill them all even though it would only be him and Usopp drinking. He would give the sniper his one night. It was the least he could do for his Nakama.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **OMG why do I write such horrible things?!

* * *

Sanji heard him, like he always did. The sniffling and whimpering noises of fear and despair. The cook stared at the ceiling for a moment before rolling to wrap his right arm around the sleeping sniper. The soft crying tore at him like very little else could manage to do. "It's alright, Usopp. Everything's going to be alright," he murmured to the younger man. If things were different, Sanji wouldn't bother comforting Usopp. He would be of the mind to just kick the guy out of bed to shut him up, but he knew the dreams that were plaguing his friend and he just couldn't do that. It was like his little brother was crying and, though he was helpless to take away the source of the immeasurable grief, he had to do something to try and relieve it slightly.

It took several minutes and some more whispered assurances but slowly Usopp's tears stopped falling onto his pillow. Sanji waited another ten minutes to be sure they really had before slowly detangling himself from the bed. It was a rickety thing that creaked when the occupant even breathed but it kept them off the floor. With Sanji's forever broken prosthetic and Usopp's injured spine that was the important thing. With Coby taking up their only other bed, the sniper and cook had been forced to share but they were beyond complaining about such trivial things. The blonde used his right hand against the wall to keep himself balanced until the phantom limb he always seemed to wake up with went away. Wasn't that sensation supposed to go away after a while? The blonde shook his head and put the thought on a shelf for later.

Once his balance had fixed itself, Sanji reached down to the covers on the bed and pulled them back in place, locking the warmth against the bowed mattress and his friend. Living underground like some goddamned rat was pretty safe all things considered but it was also a touch cold and damp and they couldn't exactly light fires down here. They would suffocate themselves most likely.

Sanji rubbed his face as he walked to the leaky bathroom. The blonde washed his face and completed his usual morning routine mechanically. He couldn't help but be glad that they'd never gotten around to finding a mirror for this place. It made it more difficult to keep his goatee trimmed but it allowed him to avoid seeing the general run down state he knew he was in. He lifted his hand and combed his fingers through his bangs. Though he'd once decided to move them to the right they'd ended up back to the left to cover the multitude of scars from when that one crazy asshole had tried _really _hard to gouge out his eye. Sanji had gotten away with his eye but it had been close.

The last remaining member of the Monster Trio sighed and finished up in the bathroom before changing from his nightclothes to what he wore out. Though he still loved the way a suit looked on his figure they weren't much protection against swords and bullets and what not so he'd ended up in much different clothes than he would normally have chosen. Leather, though far from his first choice, had ended up being the best protection he could afford though he did at least attempt to disguise it with a long trench coat or the cloak he sometimes wore. If anyone were to see him walking down the street with leather on and a prosthetic they would rightly assume he had a bounty and probably have reported his existence, which he could not afford.

Dressed and resolved, Sanji went to check on Coby one last time. He almost cursed aloud at the blood that had seeped through the bandages. The damn wounds _never _fucking _stopped!_ The bandages would have to be changed but Sanji didn't want to leave Usopp to do them all if he didn't have to. "Sanji-san…"

The blonde looked up instantly. He hadn't realized Coby was awake. "What is it?" he asked softly to not wake Usopp who was probably still exhausted and hung over from last night's drinking session. Sanji had deliberately held back so that he wouldn't oversleep but Usopp had not been as forethoughtful.

"Can… can I go… outside?" Coby asked even softer.

Sanji didn't answer immediately. Coby shouldn't be moved, it would make his situation worse and probably kill him to be entirely honest. He was weak enough as it was. "Coby… you shouldn't be moving," Sanji pointed out.

"Please, Sanji-san?"

Again the blond hesitated. Coby had his eyes barely open and most of his skin was covered in bandages that were mostly red and damp from blood and sweat and other sickness. The former marine was only really easily recognizable from the tufts of pink hair that had escaped his bandages. He certainly couldn't be moved safely or comfortably. But… on the painful other hand… he'd been trapped here underground for two months just suffering and though Sanji and Usopp had been doing their best to ease it for him they'd run out of painkillers and had to resort to alcohol a little while ago. Hardly the proper medicine.

"It's going to hurt to move you," Sanji warned.

Coby smiled a little, digging blades into Sanji's throat and chest as the bandages were pulled. "It's alright…" The blonde couldn't come up with any other arguments so he mutely nodded and reached over for Usopp's wheelchair. His friend wouldn't mind it being borrowed and it would probably be easier on both Sanji and Coby to use it.

It took effort, a few curses, and probably far more pain than Sanji wanted to imagine to get Coby into the wheelchair but it was managed. Coby was panting some and had tears on his face but Sanji forced himself to ignore them. Instead, he leaned against the back of the chair and pushed his friend out as carefully and silently as possible. The tunnel was not easy to maneuver with a wheelchair but it was possible. Usopp did it himself fairly regularly when he went to get supplies and Sanji wasn't around to do it.

The end of the tunnel came out inside of a shed so that it could remain hidden and not have any stairs down. The shed was rickety but managed to hold together despite the breeze that tugged at the planks it was made of. Wedging his foot under the wheels so that the chair wouldn't roll backwards, Sanji leaned past Coby and pushed the door to the shed open.

At first, the light from the sun was blinding. The breeze brought the smell of salt water and grasses to chase away the unmistakable smell of moist dirt of underground. Sanji took a moment to close his eyes and savor it before moving forward. He closed the door behind him and then took Coby further out. The town they lived in had long ago been practically destroyed and all of the bounty hunters that lived there wiped out. It had been one of Whiskey Peak's sister towns in its prime. Now it was full of shanties and collapsed buildings. Most of the gardens were overgrown and the packed dirt of the streets were becoming torn up as nature tried hard to sweep back through. There were only a handful of refugees here but more than a few had huge scars from where tattoos had been cut or burnt off. Pirate and Marine alike had been forced to cut ties and that included removing any Jolly Rogers or Marine insignias.

Sanji noticed several people outside of their shacks with bottles in their hands already looking drunk out of their minds. They probably had never gone to bed the night before. Sanji ignored them and they returned the favor. It was a short walk to the cliffs that oversaw the ocean. The sun was about halfway through rising and was still warped into the ocean horizon. Sanji stopped and leaned more heavily on the back of the wheelchair. "This better?"

"… yes… thank you, Sanji-san…" Coby murmured.

"Sure thing," the blonde replied as he watched the waves hit the shore below and the sun bounce around off the ocean's surface as if nothing at all had changed. After several minutes of silence he tore his eyes away from the water to look at Coby. The injured man's pink hair was being tossed around by the wind and the bloody bandages were as gruesome as ever but there was less tension in his posture. "What do you see, Coby?"

There was such a long pause Sanji wasn't sure he'd get an answer. "Luffy-san," Coby murmured finally. "… he wants… to go on an adventure…"

Damn. Sanji really wished he had a cigarette. That would help with the rock he'd somehow swallowed. His eyes burned and watered but he breathed through it as best he could. "That damned idiot… always wants an adventure," Sanji replied, trying to keep his voice as light as possible with that painful strangling feeling he was dealing with.

"I shouldn't…"

"Why not?" Sanji asked. The blonde blinked away the distortions in his vision and steadfastly ignored the moisture that overflowed. "Bet Luffy would love it."

"He's… a pirate…" Coby managed to point out.

Sanji snorted and his lips quirked at that but it didn't really relieve the pain. "Yeah. That he is. But… I don't think anyone would care, Coby. You're allowed to have fun with your Nakama even if you are a stupid ass marine. Go on your adventure, Coby. Tell that Captain of mine I'll be behind you in a while. I'll make him something to eat…"

There was a long silence after that filled only with the sound of the sea breeze and drops of saltwater hitting the back of the wheelchair. After the sun had finished rising off the horizon, Sanji gently shifted his hand. Without looking away from the waves, he pressed two fingers to Coby's neck. A minute later, Sanji closed his eyes and let out a long breath. It was probably better this way.


	3. Chapter 3

It was difficult, both emotionally and physically, to lay Coby to rest. He had to do it though. Coby deserved better than what Sanji had managed but the cook would be damned if he didn't do his best to honor his friend. Once he finally did manage it, Sanji took the wheelchair back down to Usopp who was still asleep in bed. It occurred to the blonde to leave a note but, after several minutes of just staring at the paper on Usopp's desk, he turned away. He didn't know how to say what he wanted. No words seemed to really fit. Everything was just too damn sappy.

Sanji hated goodbyes anyway. He always had. After another minute of silence, Sanji dug into the pocket of his trench coat. He pulled out his golden lighter and turned it over in his hand slowly. It was empty of fluid now but since Sanji hadn't any cigarettes left it didn't matter too much. It was the last important possession he had really and he kept it with him at all times despite it being empty. He traced the engravings with his thumb for several minutes before leaning over and putting the lighter in Usopp's half opened hand. "Eat something healthy once and a while, loser," Sanji whispered before turning and leaving as quietly as he could.

Sanji shoved his hand into his pocket as he walked through the streets. It wasn't really cold and he was wearing gloves even if it had been but habit dictated he shove his hand in his pocket anyway despite the lack of unpleasant weather. It was a bright cheerful day in fact and Sanji's mood darkened in response. Damn nature. It should know better than to be all happy and shit. Hell, there were even birds chirping! Sanji scowled at the ground as he walked towards the port. This was not the best day to be doing this but he couldn't make himself delay any longer. For the sake of everyone something had to change.

As the blonde stepped up onto the dock he looked around at the sad state it was in. Nothing was docked anymore but crappy little fishing boats and a few dingies that probably leaked more water than they floated on. At the very end of the dock though, there was one small vessel covered in a tarp. Sanji managed a smirk as he went over to it. "Goin' somewhere?" an old man that was sprawled out across several barrels asked as Sanji passed by.

"Yeah," the blonde replied as he ripped the cords out of their grommets so that he could take the tarp off. "Got an appointment to keep. Keep an eye on Usopp for me, eh?"

The old man made a sound somewhere between a snore and a choking sound. "Sure sure… whatever ya say…" he murmured as his head lolled back. Sanji frowned a little as the snoring turned into a regular thing. The guy was completely trashed… again.

"Oi, don't pass out!" Sanji snapped. The man just continued to snore as the bottle of rum dropped from his hand to plop into the ocean. A stream of bubbles rose as the empty bottle filled up and sank nearly instantly. Sanji sighed and shook his head. It was probably useless. Instead of trying to wake the drunkard, Sanji just let it go and pulled the tarp off of the one-man ship with his right hand.

It was a sleek if somewhat battered little ship that used some of the recycled bits of the sub that used to be housed in the Sunny, most noticeably the nose. Franky had called it the Barracuda due to how fast he'd designed it to be. It had absolutely no weapons and very little defense except by pure virtue of how damned fast it was. There wasn't much that could catch up to the Barracuda, though it didn't have enough fuel to go more than the distance between an island or two. Any longer trips would require many refuelings or a more traditional ship. Which was precisely what Sanji had to go to get. He only hoped that the bastard would be a little friendlier this time. Sanji snorted even as he undid the ropes keeping the Barracuda at the dock. He highly doubted the bastard would be friendly. He never really had been before.

Sanji wasn't the best navigator in the world but he'd been on the Grand Line long enough that he could follow a Log Post and avoid the obvious storms. The blonde carefully climbed into the ship and kicked off the dock with his good leg. The dock creaked but stayed standing.

Sanji leaned back and unconsciously channeled a certain moss-headed companion as he closed his eyes and let the Barracuda do what it did best. Go. Every once and a while he'd open his eyes to double check the course and make a few corrections but he didn't have to do much. Especially without any pirate or marine ships around to mess with him. His biggest threat really, was the occasional Crusade Patrol and he wasn't in the really worried about that in the open ocean.

Even with the Barracuda's speed it took all day for him to cross the open ocean and reach the island he had been aiming for. The little gauge on the dash hit E just before he reached it, though the island was in sight. Sanji pulled out a paddle and rowed the rest of the way in, not really concerned with any sea monsters that might decide to cause him trouble. He hadn't been afraid of Sea Kings… well, really ever. The time they'd wandered into the Calm Belt being the only real exception.

It took a little while but Sanji managed to get the Barracuda to shore. He dragged the ship up onto the beach and into the dense foliage where it would be at least somewhat hidden just in case a hostile ship did drift past. Sanji sighed and kicked the sand to disguise the drag marks across the shore before starting into the woods. This wasn't one of the jungle islands that were so predominant on the Grand Line but rather a nice temperate forest with a fairly normal weather system that was currently Spring Summer. A bit hot and muggy but far from the worst that Sanji had ever hiked through.

Cicadas and crickets made a racket in the brush as the occasional bat swooped down across the moon. Sanji ignored the wildlife entirely and found his way to a small inlet lake tucked by the base of a mountain. Around the lake and along the river that led to the ocean, there was a small town. Only small ships could make it through the river to the inlet so it wasn't highly populated. Quite a number of the ships that were there however were wearing a familiar odd pseudo camouflage of blue and green. They were missing the marine insignias but they were unmistakable in their colorations. Here and there between them Sanji noted the far more eccentric ships of pirates and a few more subdued ships that probably belonged to locals.

Docks and wooden walkways spiraled several layers up and around the lake. Lots of little taverns and restaurants were tucked between shipwright shops and other supply shops. Sanji ignored most of the signs as he walked through the crowds. He spotted marine uniforms that were rumpled and torn and more than a handful of drunken pirates singing badly.

In the lowest layer of walkways, there was one tavern that had a hugely grinning cat wearing a top hat for it's sign. It was one of the less populated taverns but Sanji walked in fearlessly. There wasn't really anything that scared the blonde anymore. Especially not a fugitive bar like the Gentleman Cat. It only took a quick glance for Sanji to spot who he was looking foor. His slightly mismatched footsteps were signal enough who he was, so Sanji didn't bother greeting the other man. Instead, he reached over with his right hand and snagged one of the two cigars burning away in the other man's mouth.

"Thief," the ex-marine accused though he made no move to retaliate as Sanji slid onto a barstool and took over the task of smoking the cigar.

"Pirate," Sanji replied as if it were obvious. He let out a bit of smoke with a sigh and the bartender put a short glass on the bartop in front of him. It was quickly filled with a pale amber liquid and Sanji gave a nod of thanks. Sanji took a quick sip and put the drink down. It was watered down rotgut crap but it was alcohol and that was really the point. "I need a ship," Sanji said.

There was a snort from the stool beside him. "Blackleg, if I had a ship what makes you think I'd just hand it over to you?"

"Because we're out of options," Sanji replied as he glanced over at the bulkier man. Smoker hadn't aged any better than Sanji had. Though the ex-marine hadn't lost any limbs, he'd gathered so many scars he looked like a patchwork quilt or something. "I've got Robin-chan's translation. It'll work, Smoky. I know it will."

Smoker frowned and picked up his own glass from the bartop. "And if it doesn't?"

"Then we're dead anyway," Sanji replied before taking another puff of the cigar. He made a face. "Goddamn… this thing tastes like ass…"

"Then give it back."

"No," Sanji said before putting the cigar back to his lips. "You know the last time I smoked anything was?"

Smoker rolled his eyes. "Like I care? With how you smoke it was probably the day after they made smoking illegal. Got us both with that one…"

"You're one to talk," Sanji said with a halfhearted glare. "At least I don't smoke two at a damn time."

"I need the smoke to keep charged."

"Bullshit," Sanji replied instantly. "Now do you have a ship or not?"

There was a long silence. "Yeah. I got one. It's a piece of crap but it floats still… somehow not that those bastards haven't tried real hard to sink her," he finally answered.

"Good enough," Sanji replied as he picked up his glass again.

There was an even longer silence as the two men smoked and drank at the nearly empty bar. A few ex-marines and pirates came into the bar but turned right around when they recognized who was sitting there. None of them were stupid enough to disturb a member of the Monster Trio or an Ex-Vice Admiral with Devil Fruit powers. "How's Coby?" Smoker had been reluctant to allow the remaining Strawhats take the younger man but he'd relented for the simple fact that he himself had no way of taking care of him.

Sanji hesitated for a moment as he thought on how to respond to that. "… he's resting," he finally said.

"I see…"

The two of them lapsed into silence again and Sanji noticed Smoker stacking a few pebbles on the bartop. "You heard from Bellamy?" Smoker asked suddenly. Sanji was more than surprised by the question. Smoker didn't talk much when he started doing that stacking thing but to not only talk but to ask about Bellamy of all people was well… weird. Sanji shook his head in answer, deciding quiet was the way to go as Smoker carefully put another pebble on top of his stack. "Nobody has," Smoker commented. "Missed his last two check ins. I'd say they were wiped out."

Sanji let out a sigh full of smoke. "Sounds like it."

"This better work, Blackleg, we only have one place left to fall back to before we've got to flee to Skypeia and even that's looking like a no go," Smoker said as his pebble tower fell over. He scowled and started stacking the pebbles again. He wasn't concentrating hard enough on what he was doing.

"It'll work," the blonde insisted. "Robin-chan did the translation herself!"

The pebbles fell over and Smoker cast the pirate a glare. "Not that I'm doubting Nico Robin's translation abilities but she said herself she only had half the inscription to work with," he pointed out in annoyance. "That's why this was supposed to be a last resort."

"We're at the last resort, Smoker," Sanji pointed out.

The Ex-Marine stared for a minute before grunting. "Ship's out front. Little one on the end. I call her Haruki." Sanji nodded a little and finished his drink before standing.

"Thanks."

"Don't screw it up, Blackleg… everything's riding on this."

Sanji glanced over before taking one last inhale of smoke. He savored the burn of the smoke before grinding the cigar out in the ashtray. "Even if it kills me, Smokey," he said before heading out of the bar. He didn't have time to waste. The island he was going to was quite a ways away to sail on his own.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I was having a hard decision on who I wanted to join Sanji here but I finally went came to an agreement with myself.

* * *

The ship at the end of the line was a small one. Just a little bit bigger than the Going Merry had been. It was decorated with a few thick green and blue stripes around the hull and had a green figurehead of some nondescript creature. Sanji thought the whole thing looked kind of like a turtle. He studied it for a moment before nodding and getting onto Haruki and quickly untying her from the dock. It would be a bit difficult to sail the ship on his own but he would be able to manage it. He'd been sailing all his life after all.

It took a bit of doing to get the Haruki out of the inlet lake and out on the open ocean of the Grand Line. Once it was out amid the choppy waves, Sanji let the sails go to catch as much wind as possible and hopefully get to where he was going without any interference from Crusade ships.

Sanji glanced around at the clear ocean and nodded to himself before going into the small galley that was housed on the main deck. Being set up much like the Merry brought a hint of nostalgia to the pirate cook but he did his best not to be caught up by it. He picked up a black case from where he'd stashed it in the galley and put in onto the counter. He'd grabbed it from the Barracuda before leaving the island. He quickly opened the black case to reveal quite a number of Eternal Posts wedged into foam slots. Their brass plates each said where they led to and their needles were pointing in almost every direction possible.

After only a quick glance, Sanji pulled out a specific Eternal Post and reclosed the case to store it away in a cabinet. Unlike the Merry, Haruki had an actual wheel outside on a raised platform near the front of the ship. As the pirate cook went out to direct the ship to the proper course he heard a splashing sound that didn't quite sound like the usual sound of a boat cutting through water. The blonde paused by the railing and looked over to see what was causing it. "Oh, it's you," he said before continuing to the wheel.

There was a grunt as the Fishman finished pulling himself up onto the ship. "Yeah, it's me," the ray grumbled.

"How'd you find me?" Sanji asked as he adjusted his course.

"Saw you leaving port. Figured if you were doing something stupid I might as well help you," Kuro-obi said from his seat on the railing. "And you are doing something stupid right?"

"Oh, very stupid," Sanji agreed. "But I have to do it."

Kuro-obi was quiet as Sanji finished adjusting the course. "Where are we going?" he finally asked a few minutes later.

"Island called Nual. It's about a three day's sail from here," Sanji supplied as he turned to lean against some crates that were stacked near the wheel. "It's not like you to help a human."

"Arlong's dead… so's most of our people. I heard you were going to make it so this didn't happen. If you can do that I don't care what species you are. I'm not going to let them get away with this!" Kuro-obi said fiercely. "If you really are fixing this, then I'll help you."

Sanji was quiet for a minute as he studied the Fishman he'd once kicked through a wall. There was a huge cut down Kuro-obi's right side where it looked like someone had tried to slice his whole arm off and there were small chunks missing from the fins on either of his forearms. He'd also apparently lost his left eye since it was covered with a black patch. "Alright," Sanji finally said. It wasn't like the Fishmen hadn't lost just as much as everyone else. Their whole island had been attacked endlessly by the Crusade and now it wasn't really fit for anything to live on, not even the natives. Who was he to say that Kuro-obi couldn't help if he wanted? "Just so you know… this'll probably kill us."

"Like I have anything to live for?" Kuro-obi replied, entirely unfazed by the warning.

"Fair enough," Sanji said as he pushed off of the crates to stand straight. "Anyone else hanging around or following me?"

"Well, now that you mention it… there is a huge ass whale back there," Kuro-obi said pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

Sanji blinked in surprise. "Whale?" he echoed. After a moment, it clicked and Sanji gave an exasperated sigh. "That idiot whale… I told him to stay with Usopp," Sanji grumbled as he made his way to the back of the ship. "Oi! Laboon! Get up here already!"

There was a long pause before the surface of the water rippled and then broke and the huge whale surfaced behind and to the left of the little ship that he could easily swallow whole. "Bo!"

"I told you to stay with Usopp, stupid whale!" Sanji yelled up at the single eye of Laboon's that he could see. He hadn't even told Laboon he was leaving the island for good just so that the whale wouldn't follow him. "Usopp's going to panic when you don't show back up! You really want to make him worry like that!?"

"BO!"

Sanji scowled. He wished Chopper was around to translate to know what Laboon was saying but he could guess well enough. "Don't talk back to me, you shitty whale! This isn't like before!"

"BO!"

"Why you-"

"Might as well let it be, Blackleg," Kuro-obi said. "It's not like you can really stop something that big…"

Sanji sighed in frustration. He really didn't want Laboon to get hurt following around the Grand Line. Plus it wasn't as if Laboon could really do much since they had to go onto the island. The blonde glared at Laboon a little more before turning away. "Fine, but you better be careful, shitty whale!"

"BO!"

"So… three days you said?" Kuro-obi asked as he sat down by the wall of the galley with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs folded beneath him. "What are we supposed to do until then?"

"Like I should know?" Sanji asked back in annoyance. "Pray or some shit, I guess," he added after a minute of thought. He had only been concerned with getting a capable ship not really what to do on the journey. "Just do whatever the hell you want. As long as you don't get in my way, I don't care."

The Fishman grunted and things lapsed into silence for a while. Finally, Kuro-obi sighed and pulled a flask from his pocket. He took a long drink of it before offering it to the blonde. Sanji eyed it for a minute before deciding that the overgrown fish had absolutely no reason to poison him or anything and took the offered drink. "It's crap," Kuro-obi warned.

"All alcohol is these days," Sanji replied before taking a long drink and handing it back. It was horrible and it burned but Sanji swallowed it with only a slight face of distaste. Then he said down near where Kuro-obi was sitting. "Where'd you get that crap?"

"Hachi makes it. Didn't ask how… or from what," the ray offered.

Sanji hummed a little to show he heard even as he dug into his pocket for his matches. Though he had no cigarettes he still carried the things. Habit he guessed. He struck the match along the edge of the box and studied the flame that burst to life at the tip. "How is Hachi?" he asked quietly.

"Bout the same," Kuro-obi said. "I think he misses his cooking still but he hasn't said anything about it."

"Yeah… I get that," Sanji said with a sigh before flicking the still lit match over the side of the railing.

"Are we really going to try and do whatever this plan of yours is with only two people?" Kuro-obi asked.

Sanji shrugged. "Don't really have a choice unless you have a Fishman army hanging around."

"Wish I did."

Suddenly a different voice came from below. "I am here too!"

Sanji and Kuro-obi froze and exchanged a look before jumping to their feet to face the hatch leading to what Sanji assumed was the crew quarters. He hadn't thought to check the ship for any stowaways before he'd left and now he was kind of wishing that he had. The hatch slowly opened and then a somewhat familiar face popped up. Sanji's eyes widened in outrage. "Kaku!? What the hell!?"

The ex-marine assassin just gave his usual good-natured smile before he leapt out of the hatch to land on the deck. "I seem to have been accidentally brought with you," Kaku replied as he adjusted his ball cap.

"The crap were you even doing on Smoker's ship!?" Sanji demanded.

Kaku seemed as undisturbed as ever as he stood there. He was missing two fingers on his right hand and had a long scar that went from near the middle of his forehead to his left ear in a curve, just barely missing his eye. Another scar had cut into his chin but Sanji couldn't see what others he might have gained since he was still dressed in a black outfit much like the one he wore when working for Ciper Pol Nine. "Smoker and I were looking for the subordinate of his."

"Did you find her?" Sanji asked softly.

"…no," Kaku answered. "She is still missing and now we have run out of leads. That must be why Smoker has allowed you to take his ship."

Sanji wasn't really happy to hear that. The last thing he wanted was to have this ship because a woman was missing somewhere and most likely dead. Especially since he knew there was that weird connection between her and Zoro. Not like he had a choice though. He sighed and leaned back against the ship railing. "We can't take you back. This is a one way trip."

"That's fine," Kaku said calmly. "I owe it to Paulie to help… I do still regret that back then."

There were several minutes of silence before Sanji nodded. "Alright. Just don't screw us over this time."

"You have my word."

"Yeah… that's not really going to convince me," Sanji replied. The cook wasn't sure how he felt about going into this last ditch effort with two past enemies to help him and a whale but he supposed he didn't really have a choice in the matter. He needed what he could get.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Nothing ever goes as it should... a little nod to DBZ abridged in here because I think TFS is hilarious and before I knew it it was worked in and I didn't want to take it out.

* * *

A three day sail with Kuro-obi and Kaku was… a strain. Kuro-obi, despite what he said, seemed to have trouble not falling back to insults about how weak humans were compared to fishmen. Usually when he was frustrated with Kaku who seemed to get on his nerves something fierce. Sanji could understand that at least, Kaku's banal smile got very old very quickly and though Sanji had caught sight of the giraffe man staring at the ocean a few times without that mask in place it wasn't very often. He envied Kuro-obi's ability to jump in the ocean for a while and escape being on the same boat as Kaku. Too bad Sanji could no longer keep up with a metal hunk of junk where his leg was supposed to be.

"Is that the island?" Kaku asked as he came up beside the wheel.

Sanji nodded a bit and flicked another match over the side of the ship. "Yeah. There's some ruins on that mountain there. That's where we're going," he said nodding to the rather tall mountain that took up essentially the entire island.

"It looks more like a plateau, actually," Kaku said amicably.

The cook glared dully at the swordsman, who was only the second most annoying swordsman he'd ever worked with, and struck another match. "I don't give a crap what it is. Where's Kuro-obi?"

"I believe he is downstairs."

Sanji nodded and straightened from where he'd been half draped across the wheel. "I'll get him. Find us a place to dock would ya?"

"Of course," Kaku agreed as Sanji walked away.

The blonde had difficulty with the ladder. His weighted down leg always seemed to have trouble actually keeping a grip on ladder rungs so he tried not to use them. Unfortunately, there was no other way into the crew quarters on this ship so Sanji had to mostly drop down into it. Kuro-obi was lying in a hammock and staring at the ceiling. "We're almost there," Sanji said.

Kuro-obi nodded and slowly rolled out of the hammock. It took a few moments but eventually all three of them were back on deck. Kaku had managed to find a peninsula that they could safely weigh anchor on but it was right out in the open. "This is a terrible spot," Kuro-obi complained. "Patrols will notice us for sure."

"There are no other places safe for the ship to be," Kaku replied evenly. "There are too many shoals unless you wish to do something about that."

Kuro-obi scowled but judging from how he dove into the water with a grumbled remark about 'useless humans' he had decided he did wish to do something about it. Sanji sighed but didn't complain. He'd rather have a better place to put the ship too even though he doubted he'd need to use it again. He glanced over at the horizon and saw Laboon surface for a breath before dive down again. He was far out from the ship and island but he sort of had to be. The whale was just too big to stay close. "What is the plan?" Kaku asked curiously.

"Laboon'll keep watch for any patrol ships coming up and warn us if he sees any. He can be pretty damn loud so we'll hear him if he wants us to. Someone will stay here on the boat so if it all goes wrong we can get a message back to Smoker. Then the other two of us will go up to the ruins," Sanji explained. He had figured that he'd be doing this alone so the fact that he'd have anyone to keep watch or to alert Smoker if it went wrong was a surprising relief.

"Who will be doing what?"

Sanji shrugged. "Don't really care which of you takes the trip up with me. I don't really like either of you. You two can duke it out if you really care that much."

Kaku blinked but didn't lose his small smile. "Then perhaps you can at least tell me what is at these ruins that you seem to think will aid us?"

"Simple really. I'm going to go back and stop this from happening at all," Sanji said as he struck another match. Kaku blinked again but this time looked more confused than politely curious. The cook sighed and leaned heavily against the railing. "When we were exploring right before this mess happened, Robin-chan found some old tablet taking about an island that had some way of going back in time to 'learn from themselves' or some shit. Robin figured out that this island was the one the tablet was talking about and how to make the machine here work."

Kaku 'ahhed' a bit and turned to look at the top of the mountain. "I see. How surprising such an ancient culture could create such a unique and complicated device. Truly remarkable," he said in awe.

"You still sound like a shitty old geezer," Sanji muttered.

The swordsman didn't seem to hear the criticism. "So, it is your intention to go back in time and instead of learning… warning?" Kaku asked.

"Pretty much covers it. Brook and Luffy should both be immune to Pestilence's power and if we take that asshole out first then we won't have so goddamn few numbers to fight the other bastards," Sanji almost growled before he heard a splash and suddenly the ship was moving on its own. Well, Sanji assumed that Kuro-obi had something to do with it but he couldn't see the ray to confirm.

Kuro-obi moved the ship into a small cove that wasn't as well sheltered as the pirates and ex-marine would like but was far better than out on a peninsula. Kuro-obi stayed with the ship to wait since he would be the only one to get the ship out of the place he'd wedged it if it came to that. Kaku was therefore the one to go mountain climbing with Sanji.

It was a rather quiet climb/hike. Sanji wasn't as agile as he used to be but he was still far more agile than most so the climbing style consisted of a lot of jumps from perch to perch for both of them.

The cook hated to admit it but having an annoying swordsman at his back was surprisingly comforting though he didn't think about that too much. He didn't want to be reminded of things like that. Instead he did his best to focus on the plan he'd come up with. Really, the key was to take out Pestilence. With Luffy being immune to most poison from being an idiot and over exposing himself and Brook not having any flesh with which to be poisoned both of them or either would be ideal for doing the job. If Pestilence was taken out early then there wouldn't have been entire ships dying off in droves and making the force of the Crusaders wildly larger than any other.

It wasn't so much that the new self proclaimed rulers of the world had a lot of more powerful people it was just that the few that they did have were mass murderers to their core and wiped out opposition without mercy. Sanji didn't want to see another ship sailing around with a red X across its sails again for as long as he lived however short or long that might be. It was a terrible bone chilling sight to come across a drifting ship with unfastened and marked sails and not a living soul on it. It was like being back in Thriller Bark only worse because the bodies were probably still there.

But Pestilence was only part of the problem. He had struck first and decimated much of the opposition from all sides but the marines had been particularly hard hit by War. That one was a problem for a completely different reason from Pestilence but Sanji was pretty sure if Kidd hadn't had the misfortune of being one of the first crew's targeted by Pestilence he would have been invaluable in fighting War. After all, War seemed to have some weird power dealing with metal and that was Kidd's forte.

If those two jerks could be dealt with then Sanji was fairly certain that this horrible sea that was now named Eden would be avoided. He just had to make sure that they didn't get sucker punched this time.

Kaku and Sanji reached the ruins without much trouble at all and Sanji wasted no time in pulling out Robin's notebook. He began walking towards the surprisingly open area on top of the mountain even as he flipped through the pages. "So how does this thing work?"

Sanji hummed a little as he quickly re-read Robin's tight scrawl. "Looks like… there's some crystals that are in those pillars," Sanji said pointing to the triangle of pillars. "We need to take off the tops to expose them or something. Then it should do the rest automatically."

"Nice and simple. Very refreshing," Kaku said as he wasted no time in jumping up to the top of one pillar. He quickly pulled the pyramid stone cap off of it to expose a pinkish crystal jutting out of the top. Sanji let Kaku deal with that as he read through the notes again to be sure he didn't miss anything.

It didn't look like he had but then he noticed a little note at the bottom about the time of day being important. Sanji glanced up at the sun and frowned. Kaku landed beside him lightly. "What is it?"

"Robin wrote down that the sun makes it work," Sanji muttered as he looked back down at the notes.

"And did Nico Robin mention how it makes it work?"

Sanji scowled at Kaku but shook his head. "No, she just wrote time with a question mark. I think it means it only works at certain times of day but she must not have been able to figure out what time it was."

"Well, we shall simply have to wait then," Kaku said.

Sanji grunted but was less than pleased. He'd really rather have this over and done with. It was going to be terribly painful seeing everyone again and knowing that if he didn't stop this then they would all be gone. He wanted to deliver his warning and be done with it. He didn't want to draw this out too long.

Without anything else to do however, the two of them could only really sit and wait for something to happen. They hoped they hadn't missed the time of day and wouldn't have to wait through the night until morning came around again. Unfortunately after several hours of waiting that seemed to be the case. But still they waited to be absolutely certain.

It turned out to be a good thing they had because just as the sun was halfway down the horizon the crystals on top of the pillars began to glow. Sanji jumped to his feet along with Kaku. "It seems to be working," Kaku said.

"No shit," Sanji snapped as he took a few steps forward.

The crystals continued to glow brighter and brighter until beams of light shot out. There were three lines from each so that all three crystals and a spot on the ground were connected to form an upside down pyramid of light. There was a bright flash and Sanji couldn't help but hold his arm up against the suddenness of it.

"Wooah!"

"What the hell?!"

Sanji's eyes flew open at the achingly familiar voices. He dropped his arm to look but to his dismay he was not on the Sunny like he'd expected. Though in front of him was everyone from little Chopper to beautiful Robin and Nami in their entire uninjured, wonderful, pirate prime and they all looked justifiably confused, that was because they were standing in the middle of ancient ruins on an island not because he'd dropped in on them.

"Sanji?"

There was a wrenching sensation in Sanji's chest as he faced his obviously confused strawhat wearing captain. Everyone turned to face him and he could tell by the looks on their faces, especially his own (which was very disconcerting) that they could immediately tell something was wrong. "It seems it did not work," Kaku said lightly.

Sanji slowly turned to glare at the square nosed asshole. "No goddamn shit!" he hissed.

He heard a sword get drawn and he quickly turned to face Zoro who had a katana pointed at them and a dangerous look on his face. "What the hell is going on?" he growled. That. Was a very good question and Sanji really wished that he had a better answer to it.


End file.
